1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to side access drawers, useful on pull-outs from cabinets, and more particularly relates to drawer slides for side access drawers.
2. Background Information
Most drawers typically consist of a bottom surrounded by four upright members defining a back wall, two side walls, and a drawer front. The contents of the drawer can be accessed through an open horizontal plane defined generally by the upper margins of the back wall and two side walls. To facilitate such access, a drawer slide can be coupled to each side of the drawer and to each side of the drawer receiving opening in the cabinet holding the drawer. Each drawer slide consists generally of a first rail that is designed to be fixed to the side of the drawer and a second rail that is designed to be fixed to the cabinet. The first and second rails are coupled to each other by inter-engaging surfaces such a glides or bearings that facilitate relative movement between the two rails. A wide variety of such drawer slides exist that are suitable for use to permit drawers to move smoothly and easily in and out of cabinetry, particularly cabinetry typically found in kitchens.
Some drawers have a much different construction from that previously described. In particular, some drawers consist of a bottom, a back wall, a drawer front and one or more shelves or racks connected between the back wall and the drawer front. Access to the shelves or racks is gained through either of two vertical planes located on either side of the drawer and defined generally by the lateral margins of the back wall and bottom. In view of the desirability of maximizing the side access to such drawers, the use of side-mounded drawer slides is undesirable. As a result, some installations involve the use of a drawer slide mounted between the bottom of the side access drawer and the drawer receiving opening in the cabinet holding the drawer. If the side access drawer is much taller than it is wide, the drawer can exhibit significant vertical instability. To enhance the vertical stability of the side access drawer, another slide or guide is typically placed between the top of the back wall and the drawer front and coupled to the top of the drawer receiving opening in the cabinet holding the drawer. Examples of this construction are to be found, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,199,966; 6,412,892; and 6,682,159. While this top slide or guide works satisfactorily to stabilize the side access drawer, it can be difficult to install and align the top and bottom slides to the cabinet.